As we wrap up the series, Carl shares the seven traits for Christian success. By putting God first, knowing the power of our words and not comparing ourselves to others, we will be in an advantageous position for success. The Book of Isaiah offers insight, when God reveals that ‘His ways are not our ways’ (Isa 55:8-9). Sometimes the Lord might ask us to do something outside of our comfort zone, to see His will come to pass in our lives. Are you ready to heed God’s call? Join Carl now for the third and final broadcast, as we wrap up the series.
Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…
Friend, let’s pick it up now with a final session of Success From God’s Perspective, live at D-Hob. Many people are addicted to stuff because their heart is wounded, all right? And they’re gravitating towards something to get a quick fix for the pain they feel on the inside. That is the core of addiction. It usually comes from wounding in the formative years, in the adolescent years, whenever it was. So whenever anybody has prayer for addiction when it’s involving me, I’m going to get into the stuff. I’m going to get into what happened when you were 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15. We’re going to talk about the hurts and wounds then.
We’re going to then ask the Lord to heal the brokenhearted. And then as that healing comes, that power of addiction is broken. Amen? Amen. That’s how it works, all right? It starts with the heart. All issues in life start with the heart. Where’s that in the Bible? You know where it is, right? Proverbs 4:23, the heart, “Keep your heart with all diligence because out of it are the issues of life.” The issues that everybody struggles with start with the heart. And if we have issues that we can see where we’re not lining up with God’s word, say, Lord, touch my heart in this area. All right? I’m talking to myself here, guys, as well. We’re all under the sanctification process. We’re all under that.
Amen? None of us escape sanctification. I’m not going to do that tonight. Thank you very much. It’s like, come here, sanctification time. That’s how it is, right? Because the Lord loves us, right? He doesn’t want us to stay wounded and hurt. And many times it’s like, how does that feel? Ow, I just, ooh, don’t go there. No, that’s where I do want to go because that wound is festered right now, and it could kill you, okay, because infection could set in, and it could cause major problems. That’s why the Lord is sometimes poking us. And it’s like, I don’t want to go there. He’s like, no, that’s the very thing you do need to go to. You need to pour open your heart and say, Lord, heal me again. Touch me again, all right? Amen. It’s not always easy, friend, but there’s an amazing reward on the other side, okay? My Uncle Bob was an alcoholic. I learned as a kid he had a major drinking problem. I would see him, when I was 10, 11, 12, he would just down like a Carlsberg Special Brew.
Now, Carlsberg Special Brew, man, is potent. This is like three beers in one tin. And he would just, you know, how’s it going? It’s Monday. It’s 10 o’clock in the morning. Let’s go, you know? And I was like, man, what is up with him? Come to find out later that his wife, he’d only been married a few months, and his wife committed adultery on him with his best friend. And he was absolutely shattered in his heart, and he was so wounded. But I didn’t know anything about these things when I was growing up. I didn’t know about what happened. But the physical manifestation of drinking was a surface symptom of something deeper, that had he had healing in that area, and he has made great progress, don’t get me wrong.
He hasn’t had a drink now in about 15 years. But it’s a soul thing. It’s like he’s committed not to drink, but you could tell it’s always there. It’s like, you know, he could go there. If he got upset or something, he could go there. But what I’m saying to you is rather than resisting it in the soul, Jesus can take the desire away, and that is the real healing, is when the desire is gone. Do you see the difference? We can resist in our soul all day long. Don’t eat the chocolate. It’s right there. You know, it’s right there. Don’t do it, right? So that’s the flesh. We’re fighting in the flesh, resisting.
No, no, no, no. That’s not how it works. We say, Lord, you take care of this situation over me. I want to make sure that you’re guiding me in this situation. Empower me to resist temptation. Jesus said, pray with me one hour. Pray with me one hour. He was being tempted in the garden. He wanted some assistance. What were Peter and John doing? Not only that, they were, like, sleeping three times. Have you read that passage? So Jesus is about to do something really trivial, like take the entire world’s sin on his shoulders, you know, just something minor. And, can you pray with me one hour? Sure.
You know, it’s like, and then they wake him up. They woke him up, and then they did it again, and they did, like, three times they fell asleep. I mean, I’d be like, dude, what is the deal with these people? All right? And I have no point, but I thought it was a great passage. But, you know, Jesus is very, very graceful. He’s very merciful. He’s very patient towards us. That’s what I’m saying, okay? And no matter what you’ve struggled with, even to this point, it could be years, there is still a breakthrough ahead for you. Don’t think that this is a label that you’ve got to wear, okay, for the rest of your life, okay? There’s still, in your future, freedom. Amen? Freedom and liberation.
But it starts with your mouth. Why? But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise. But what does it say? The word is nigh thee in your mouth and in your heart. This is the word of faith that we preach. This is where the word of faith movement came from, from this verse right here. People think it was just made up. It’s actually in Romans 10.6. The word of faith is in your mouth, then it’s in your heart, all right? And that is how it begins. Father, I believe that you died on the cross for me. Saved. You expressed what you believed with your mouth. It’s the same way with healing. It’s the same way with addiction.
Deliverance. Whatever you’re believing God for, you activate it by believing in your heart and speaking with your mouth. This isn’t Charles Capps, chapter 6, verse 2. This isn’t Kenneth Copeland, chapter 11, verse 6, okay? It says it here, right? How many believe it’s in the Bible? It’s not made up. Now, the word of faith has been abused down the years. Sure it has. Sure it has. No one’s going to doubt that. But the trouble is we’ve thrown baby out with the bathwater, right? Oh, that must all be nonsense. No, no, no, no, no.
It’s not all nonsense. Check up for yourself the passages where it talks about speaking to stuff. Mark 11:23 is a classic example. The whole chapter of Mark 11 is very powerful. Successful people know the power of their words, all right? Now, I’m not just talking about around other people. Many people are guarded about what they say around folk. But get them by themselves, and we’re going to find out what’s in your heart, right? Stubbing of the toe. Whoo! Blankety-blank-blank. Do-do-do-do. You know, whatever it is. I mean, when no one’s watching you, that’s when the real person comes out, right? And so, again, talking to pastor. Everything I’m saying, I’m trying to live by, guys. This isn’t like I figured it out and I’m telling you. We’re all living by the same word. But what you believe is very important, okay? Now, how did you get there? You got to the point of believing by saying it over yourself many, many times. That’s how you started believing it. That’s how you got there. If you said a lie many times, you will start to believe it.
How many of you have even done that in your former life? It’s true. It’s true. You can say something over and over again, because faith comes by hearing, whether it’s a lie or not. Just as Donald Trump was born in Russia, all right? Many people believe that and that he’s a Russian agent. Mm, I’ll let you figure it out, all right? But if we keep hearing this thing over and over and over again, it’s like, wow, he really likes vodka and stuff. You got to be real careful what you believe, guys. I’m serious. The enemy man is in the air, okay? He’s the prince of the power of the airwaves. That’s his domain. We got feedback five times since I’ve been preaching. We went through a practice tonight. We had no feedback, all right? Maybe once. But now, when we’re preaching, we got feedback, all right? So, if you try and make a move for God, stuff can happen. So, quick to forgive. This is so important. But many people don’t forgive themselves, and that’s the kicker. They’re so hard on themselves, and that actually is a sin, because you are a person in Christ Jesus. How dare you judge yourself so harshly? Amen.
I feel some conviction tonight, including me. Ecclesiastes 7:9, “be not hasty in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools,” all right? So, it’s okay to be angry, but don’t go to bed with anger, wake up with anger, and you know, you start getting steam coming out of your ears and everything else. Anger is a very powerful emotion, all right? And it can cause people to murder people, and it’s crazy. So, just get that anger out. In 1 John 5, 16, it says, “if any man sees his brother sin in a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them, the sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it.” Very, very strange verse. There is a sin unto death, and he shall not pray for it.
If it’s a choice, you can’t pray for it, right? It’s a choice. If I choose to harbor anger and unforgiveness in my heart, it’s a choice. Now, you can pray for that person, yes. You can pray that they will come to their senses and bind Satan over them, that they can make a decision for God, yes, you can pray that. But you don’t have power over someone else’s will, do you? I’ve tried it, brother. It don’t work, okay? So we are all responsible for our heart individually. That’s my point, okay? And I can’t pray unforgiveness off Nicole or whoever. I can’t do that for her because she has to make that decision or whatever it is, okay? We are each walking before the Lord with an open heart, and he knows the issues. But we have to be responsible for conforming to it ourselves.
I’m not responsible for somebody else. I’m responsible for me, all right? Now, that’s a theological debate. Some will say, you know, blasphemy is the sin unto death. We could debate that all day long. I’m not going to go there. But many scholars believe that the sin unto death is unforgiveness because it says in the Gospels, if you do not forgive, in Matthew 18:34, “you’re handed over to the tormentors.” And it says, “so shall my heavenly Father do to you if you do not forgive.” Again, I didn’t write that. This is in the Bible, okay? And so whenever we’re in a state of ongoing unforgiveness, we open ourselves up to the demonic realm. I really believe that. To give a foot or place hold to the enemy, and then he brings more stuff, all right? That’s why we have to shut it down. And I’m sure everybody in this room has no issue with forgiveness. I’m not pointing fingers. I’m just giving you the seven principles of success from God’s perspective. Amen? Tonight. Okay, it’s time for a review. Okay, we can have success according to the world’s standards or God’s, but personal fulfillment comes from following God’s plan. But if we don’t take time to ask what it is or seek it, we’re not going to get that fulfillment, right? Some people go into the assumption mode.
I’ve been there. I’m just going to assume some stuff. I’m going to assume 16 different decisions and just assume God’s in on it, and off I’m going to go down that road and pray God’s with me. Amen? How many have been there? Nobody else. Okay, learn to love yourself. This is very important. The more we love ourselves, the nicer we’re going to be to other people, because some people hate themselves. They don’t value themselves, and then they’re kind of grouchy in social settings because they’ve never really accepted themselves. And so that’s just something else that came up.
Success is contentment with where you’re at on the way to where you’re going. And many people would despise the day of small beginnings. Let’s not despise that, all right? Let’s be content on the way to where we’re going. Because you know what? Whenever you have success, you’re going to have more problems that come with that success. Every single stage of life is unique. We’re thinking in our heads, well, what if this happens? What if I progress? Yeah, that’ll be great, but you’re going to have all the other stuff you’ve got to deal with that you are not considering right now, all right? So every single stage of life has unique challenges. Amen? I mean, there’s some people in this room who’ve had children, and we know that it can be challenging. Amen? And some people have passed on through that, and they’re like, oh, I’m glad that’s over with. Amen? They’re grown up.
I can enjoy my time. Amen? But we’re all children in progress. We’re all learning little things, how to walk, right? How to not go doo-doo tonight on the bedroom and go to the toilet and whatever else. I’m just being real. The Apostle Paul said he learned to be content with whatever he had. And the irony, of course, is I believe in Philippians, when he said, I counted all joy, the Apostle Paul was writing that in a sewer. He was writing it in an open sewer. That’s when he said, I counted all joy. Think about that. He didn’t write, I counted all joy in a joyful setting. It was a statement of truth in a bad situation. Amen. We’re wrapping it up. That was part three. And friend, check your motives in life. What is motivating you? What is driving you to do what you do? You know, many people just get up and go to work. They come home, watch TV, go to bed, and repeat, repeat. I saw a T-shirt the other day. Work, eat, sleep, repeat. You know, that’s not the life God has for you, friend. Seek Him on where you’re at and where you’re going. Don’t end up in the destination and ask yourself, what am I doing here in the first place? I don’t even know if I want to be here. Some people are just going along in life without any thought whatsoever.
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